


Seeds of Discord Part 26

by kbj1123



Series: Wonder Woman & Captain America [27]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Crossover Pairings, F/M, One True Pairing, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-14 16:40:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3417971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kbj1123/pseuds/kbj1123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone or something is causing violent riots to erupt all over the U.S., and whatever it is, it wreaks havoc with both Wonder Woman's health and Bruce Banner's ability to keep his rage in check.</p><p>Over lunch, Natasha gives Steve an attitude adjustment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seeds of Discord Part 26

“So I was on my way in to say hi to Diana this morning,” Natasha begins. Steve puts down his sandwich and shifts uncomfortably in his seat. Normally, he likes coming here. The high ceilings, dark paneling and red booths reminded him of a place he and Bucky frequented on Friday nights when they were teenagers, before the War changed everything. It wasn’t old-timey kitsch; the place just had the right feel to it. “And I didn’t really mean to eavesdrop, but I’m a spy,” Natasha continues. The sun bounces off the snow and ice of the parking lot. Drivers slam on brakes and there is a cacophony of honking horns as a car slows for a yellow light at the diner’s intersection. Steve reaches over and lowers the blinds at their booth’s window. “I suppose you also have something to say about what you heard,” he says to his plate.

Natasha smiles at him. Steve shakes his head. “I really didn’t come with you to lunch to hear a lecture…although I’m curious about what you think you heard.”

“What the hell were you thinking, you idiot, and I ask this with only the deepest regard and friendship,” she replies, ignoring the query. Natasha sips her soda and meets his gaze. He shrugs and drinks his coffee. Even the menu doesn’t seem to have lost its basic, 1930’s diner style: no fancy coffees, no weird cheeses on the sandwiches. It's too bad his appetite has effectively gone, now. “I guess I wasn’t thinking. This is none of your business, anyway though…Diana hasn’t said anything to you has she?”

She smiles again. “Diana doesn’t have to say anything. It’s pretty easy to read her because she’s not used to keeping secrets from the people she loves…and no, she isn’t keeping any from you that I’m aware of.” Steve leans back in his seat and sighs. “Say whatever you need to. Get it out of your system.” From the corner of his eye, he notices the shadows of traffic start to move again. A few tables behind him, someone babbles into their phone about a court date. Natasha snaps her fingers in front of Steve’s face. “Pay attention, Cap!” He takes another sip of coffee and slouches back in his seat. With as much tolerance as he can manage, he crosses his arms and says, “Okay I’m listening.”

“The first few weeks of pregnancy make you tired, moody, and generally ill, from what I’ve seen. She thought it was just the Concordance Group’s mood-altering tech, but it seemed a little extreme for someone as immune to stuff as Diana. And it’s not like she would’ve known the early signs. She’s never really been around pregnant women before.”

“She should’ve told me.” He looks past Natasha at a busboy clearing the next booth. A couple of women walk to the counter, leaving wet, slushy footprints on the tile-patterned floor. They laugh hysterically at something as they seat themselves on the padded red stools. 

Natasha shakes her head. “She didn’t think it was true. Steve, you do understand that she’s not like regular women. She’s never had to think about messy stuff like cycles, birth control, and things like that, nor will she ever, as far as she knows.”

He looks out the window and pretends he isn’t blushing. A car slides over a patch of black ice and spins out from the intersection. No one crashes into it. “Oh my god, grow up!” Natasha exclaims. “Seriously? Look at me, Steve. Do you want me to call Bruce? Is it better for a man to explain this stuff to you?”

Steve turns to her and frowns. “I am aware of how women’s biology normally works, and no, don’t call Bruce,” he says slowly and forcefully. 

“Okay,” she says. “I’m going to tell you some things you already know. “If you keep coming up with creative and not-very-creative ways to control her, she is going to get angry. She’s a goddess, and she has the patience of an immortal, but even she has her limits. She is as dedicated to your marriage and to protecting the world as you are. For the love of everything Steve, no one should have to tell you this. Pushing her to get pregnant is not going to change the way she behaves in the long run. So knock it off until it happens and you’re both happy about it. That’s number one.”

Steve puts some cash on the table and slides toward the edge of the booth.

“I’m not done yet.” Natasha warns. “There’s more.”

He hangs one leg over the edge of the seat in preparation to bolt, but waits. “You’re awfully close to crossing the line here,” he warns. 

“Whatever little jealousy thing you have going on with Bruce, it is very clearly all in your head. Yeah, he probably has a harmless crush. He’s still her friend…and yours. Look around the room. You see all the men in here? No matter if she’s in costume or just being Diana, every man in here and most of the women would mentally undress her and have her six ways from Sunday if she were to walk in right now. She’s not interested in them. I see the way she looks at you. Get over yourself.”

“Thank you, Dorothy Dix,” Steve mutters and once again starts to get up. Natasha slides her foot further under the table hooks it around his ankle. “Not so fast, cowboy.”

Steve slides back into the booth. “Speaking of patience having its limits...” 

“I don’t have to tell you she deserves better from what it sounds like she got from you last night.”

Steve’s face and neck heat up. The two women at the counter laugh loudly again. Natasha grins and tells him, “You should see the look on your face. You gave her bad sex, too? I was talking about the fact that she’s been through absolute crap the past few months and you’ve been making it sound like she’s done something to you. But she deserves good sex, too. Do you need me to talk you through that as well?” She smirks.

He scowls at her and gets up and again. “One more thing,” Natasha says seriously. “She loves you profoundly, you know. She’s first in line to the throne, and she’s broken one of her culture’s most important laws by marrying you. She’s turned her back on everything and everyone she’s ever known and she’s pretty sure not everyone would be happy to have her back.”

This last bit is actually somewhat new to him. “Against the law?”

Natasha looks straight at him. “Maybe she does have a secret or two from you after all! Good for her!” 

He leans across the table. Struggling to control his temper, he says, “Natasha, mind your own business and keep your judgments to yourself.” 

He gets up to leave without her and pushes through the diner’s revolving door. The subzero temperature and traffic sounds are an exhilarating relief from the recycled hot air and what others call “classic rock” from inside. Nevertheless, the sharp wind on his face feels like a slap.


End file.
